Lila choked down the piece of doughnut she’d been chewing. Swallowing over the sudden lump in her throat hadn’t been easy. “You’ve been holding that in since last night, haven’t you?”
Darla threw back her head and laughed in a sound so rich and genuine that several people joined in even though they couldn’t possibly have heard the comment. “I gotta tell you. The curiosity has been killing me. Spence is not the type to bring his girl around.”
Just like that Lila’s amusement faded. It was a good thing she’d finished the doughnut so fast because this turn in the conversation might ruin the last bites for her. “No.”
“You’re thinking he does?”
“I’m saying the ‘his girl’ thing, that’s not me.”
Darla’s eyes narrowed a fraction. “Word is you two had a lover’s spat.”
“A really vocal one, if the gossip is right.” An older woman shuffled over and plopped down next to Lila. The stool creaked and coffee splashed over the rim of Lila’s cup when the woman knocked it with the open sleeve of her oversized coat.
The lady smelled like gardenias and wore the brightest pink lipstick Lila had ever seen. She’d never been good at tagging people’s ages, but she’d guess this lady was in her sixties or seventies. She was short and almost as wide as she was tall. She threw elbows and shushed a man who tried to get Darla’s attention.
Darla took the interruption in stride. She grabbed another coffee mug and set it down. “Hi Cleo. This is Lila, Spence’s new girlfriend.”
Yeah, she had to put a stop to that talk. “I’m not—”
Cleo made a slurping sound as she drank from the mug. “I’ve heard.”
The people of Holloway sure did like their gossip. Lila had never been a fan of... “Wait, what exactly did you hear?”
Cleo dropped the cup to the counter, lipstick smudge and all, and signaled for Darla to pour a second cup. “Something about wild nights and a knock-out fight at the nursery.”
Good grief. “I’m Ned Payne’s niece. I’m running—”
“Bah, I know who you are. It’s good Spence found a hometown girl. Mitch’s Cassidy. Austin and Carrie. Those men knew not to drag one of those city types back here.” Cleo leaned back as far as her stomach would allow without tipping her over and looked Lila up and down. “Where are you from?”
“Philadelphia.”
The older woman’s face fell. “That’s not good.”
“Cleo, she’s here now and has kin in these parts.” Darla kept pouring coffee. Cleo would empty a cup and Darla would be right there with more. Clearly this was some sort of practiced dance.
At the older woman’s comment, those insecurities came rushing back at Lila. She tried to mentally duck them but the wallop didn’t stop. Being an outsider. Being in a place, in a job, where she didn’t have an ounce of experience. The newness of everything, of being a grown woman and having to make friends all over again, scared the crap out of her.
Cleo shrugged. “We’ll see.”
Lila figured she’d missed something. “See what? What is happening around here?”
“Big Spence Thomas having a serious girl is quite the news,” Darla explained.
Whoa. These people wanted to marry Spence off and were looking in the wrong direction. “I’m not that girl.”
Darla skipped over Lila and talked directly to Cleo. “It might just be sex now, but I can see it for the future.”
Lila’s stomach flip-flopped. She wasn’t ready to be left out of this conversation. Not when it was veering so far into fantasy land. If she so much as sneezed, these two might have her wedding planned by the time she blew her nose.
“That one was scarred by his momma’s leaving.” Cleo nodded at Lila then Darla as if to prove her point.
Lila wanted to walk away but they’d finally found a topic that interested her. After three days with Spence, three days of talking and touching, she knew nothing about his personal life. Oh, he’d given her the basics, along with using his brother’s name, but she hadn’t gotten a sense of Spence other than to know she was safe in that small space with him.
With a few throwaway words, Cleo had given Lila more insight than she’d gotten from all her time with him combined. “Did you say momma?”
“He’ll be tough to reel in, but you can do it.” Darla patted Lila’s hand. “I know I’m right about this.”
About what?
“She’ll be able to hook him,” Darla said.
Cleo looked Lila up and down. “Hmpf.”
That fast the women were off again. Just when the conversation got interesting, they shut it down and circled back to the commitment talk. Lila got dizzy just trying to keep up. “What makes you think I want to snag Spence?”
“Well, who wouldn’t want Spence Thomas? Under all that gruffness, he’s a catch,” Darla said.
Lila pushed that thought as far out of her mind as she could get it. Nowhere on her To Do List was an item about getting to know Spence Thomas better. “I’m not fishing.”
Not with her life in pieces. Stephen had used their firm’s client account as his gambling seed money, swearing he’d planned to reimburse it with his next big score. She’d missed the signs and trusted him to handle the bookkeeping. Everything she counseled women not to do with their money, she’d done. She trusted the wrong guy and let it all happen. That said more about her gullibility and malfunctioning man radar than she was comfortable analyzing.
With a little luck and a lack of evidence linking her to the crime, she’d escaped prosecution. She’d even paid back all the money Stephen had stolen by emptying the savings he hadn’t pissed away and running up her credit cards with cash advances. She went from having great credit to barely being able to buy a hot dog without a co-signor.
The scandal ripped her reputation apart and left her with attorney bills she had to pay and only a few thousand dollars with which to start over. But the worst part was how he dumped her right after being found out. Dumped her right when her fury was in full spin. She’d just thrown all of his suits out the window to the dirty sidewalk below and was waiting for him to get back from the police station so she could officially kick him out. He walked in and, before she could say anything, gave her the I-need-to-get-my-life-together-and-start-over speech as if she were the bad influence in the marriage. Only thing she wondered was why she hadn’t noticed he was a raving asshat before getting so royally screwed by him.
“I had a good feeling about the other one and was right. That Cassidy worked out for Mitch just fine,” Cleo said.
“You didn’t like Cassidy at all when she first came back to town,” Darla pointed out.
Cleo kept talking as if Darla had never spoken. “Cassidy was off living somewhere else before finding Mitch, but I’m betting we have wedding news after the holidays. The lead in the town’s betting pool is Christmas Eve. I say New Year’s. Mitch seems like the new-year-big-news type.”
Lila had no idea what they were talking about.
Darla turned to Lila. “But you have time.”
Still lost. “For what?”
Cleo shook her empty mug at Darla again. “To get Spence to commit, of course.”
This older one never stopped with her agenda. “I’m not looking for—”
Darla pointed at the glass doors to the diner. “His truck just pulled up. You better get going.”
Lila looked up and saw lights outlining the window and a plastic Santa sitting right outside. “Why?”
“There’s no reason to keep a good man waiting. Go get him, honey. I’m betting on you moving in with him by Christmas.” Darla finished the comment at a near shout that had the diner patrons mumbling in agreement.
It took Lila an entire doughnut and two cups of coffee, but she was starting to get it. Darla wasn’t spouting off town folksiness. She said what was in her head and meant it. And sometimes that seemed like a bad thing. “And you mean an actual bet, right? Someone has actually started a pool already.”
; Darla flipped her order pad over and looked at the lines of blue print. “You want in?”
Lila didn’t even know a head could pound this hard. “I’m trying to figure out how to get out.”
Cleo picked up Lila’s coat and handed it to her. “Go get him.”
“What?”
She shook her head. “When will you modern ladies figure that out and stop with all this hard to get?”
Darla laughed. “Words of wisdom.”
What was happening here? The way Lila saw it she came in for breakfast and dropped down a hole. The town was Spence-obsessed and the more everyone talked about him, the harder it was for her not to think about him. It was like some evil matchmaking plan.
“Go.” Cleo actually shooed Lila away. Pushed on her arm, shoving Lila off the chair.
The older lady had a lot of strength behind that wall of gardenias. But suddenly the idea of running sounded good to Lila. She reached for the five tucked in her front jeans pocket. “I need to—”
Darla waved her off. “Breakfast is on me today.”
“I...uh. Okay.” Lila would have argued but she’d lost the ability to say much of anything. She put on her gloves, figuring getting out of there—and fast—might be the best response. Possibly the only response.
She somehow made it to the door and through another round of quick smiles and small waves to the other diners. The cold air hit her and rushed down her throat the minute she stepped out onto the flurry-dampened sidewalk with her coat in her arms. The chill should have revived her but she couldn’t shake off the female conversation.
Spence got out of the company truck and stood there by the open door. “I was just coming in to see if you had any interest in breakfast.”
Now there was a terrible idea. “I wouldn’t go in there if I were you.”
His smile dropped and his eyes narrowed as she got closer. “You look like someone punched you.”
“They kind of did.”
He came around the front of the vehicle in three long strides and met her at the passenger door. His hands went to her arms, rubbing up and down her now-frozen limbs. “Are you okay? What happened?”
Lila nibbled on her bottom lip as she internally debated how much to tell him. “Darla and this lady named Cleo—”
“Ah, Cleo.” The tension pulling across his cheeks left as he began to nod. “She’s a town treasure.”
“Is that what we call her?” Lila tried to ignore the way her breath curled in a puff of smoke when she talked. Also tried to wiggle her toes to get the feeling back down there. The cold had settled the second she stepped through the door and was slowly freezing her from the inside out.
“We do because we’re respectful.” He winked as he said it. “Did she tell you I was a catch?”
“She’s your biggest fan.”
Spence waved when a passing car honked its horn. “Oh, that’s new. Trust me. I was ‘that other Thomas boy’ when she tried to have me arrested at fifteen for stepping on her hedges.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Austin is her favorite.” He slipped Lila’s coat from her stiff fingers and put it over her shoulders, guiding her arms inside. “She turned her sights on me after Austin got married and Cassidy moved in with Mitch. I’m pretty sure Cleo views me as a dating charity case.”
Lila held her breath as Spence zipped her jacket. His hand lingered just below her breasts for an extra second as his gaze went to hers and an unexpected warmth flooded through her.
“She seems determined to marry you off.” Lila fumbled the words when Spence let his fingers trail down her jacket to her waist before he pulled back.
“Worse, she had coffee with Dad a few times before he left for D.C. Between the two of them I’m getting the full-court marriage press.”
Something in the lightness of Spence’s voice and the way he smiled over the clear annoyance in his voice grabbed her attention. “You’re close to your dad.”
“Very. He grew a business while raising two rowdy boys. No one ended up in jail or rehab or under an overturned tractor.” Spence’s eyes glowed with admiration. “I’d call that a miracle.”
“What about your mom?” Lila asked before she could weigh the question. She didn’t want to break the spell or stop him from talking, but she could almost see the shield rise the second the words left her mouth.
Spence’s shoulders stiffened and the light went out of his eyes as if something inside him dimmed at the thought of the woman who gave birth to him. “Not around.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No big deal.” He opened the passenger door. “We may as well give the town something to talk about and leave together.”
She wanted to stay and talk and learn more about him. In all those hours together he’d guarded every word, careful to share little and ask even less. Having him open up, even that small amount, left her wanting more.
But the moment had passed and that was clear in the way Spence morphed back to his mix of charm and control. She sighed at the loss. “Where are we going?”
“It’s time to rebuild that campground.”
“You’re still planning to help me.”
“Yeah, Lila. I’m going to help.” He motioned for her to get in the truck. “You’ll survive it, I promise.”
She wondered if she’d survive being this close to him. She knew from experience that forgetting Spence was not an easy thing to do and when his campground work was done, she doubted he’d want her to do anything else.
Chapter Six
Spence walked around the main cabin at the campground the next day. It was the one Lila would eventually move into, likely sooner than he thought was smart or necessary, so he wanted it perfect. No cheap materials. No half-assed work. No cutting corners.
Not that he did any of those things anyway, but he’d spent the last four hours barking orders at his employees to make sure none of it happened here. He’d also yanked two guys out of the warehouse and another out of the Christmas tree lot at the back of the nursery to help out on the building project.
The thud of a car door had him moving to the front of the cabin. Travis stripped off his gloves as he left his truck down the path and maneuvered around the stacks of wood and makeshift tool bench they’d set up in the courtyard in front of the semi-circle of falling-down buildings. A saw buzzed and a steady pounding filled the air.
Travis ignored it all as he joined Spence. Didn’t even look around for Lila, which Spence thought was a smart move.
Reaching behind him, Travis pulled out a stack of receipts and handed them to Spence. “We’re in luck. So long as we repair rather than rebuild, we can avoid the pre-construction permit process. We’ll need all sorts of inspections at the back end before she can open up, but at least we don’t have to hold off on doing any of the actual work now.”
Spence glanced around, swearing he could hear the wood creak and break just from the bit of wind blowing around. “Guess that rules out knocking these to the ground and starting over.” Which was a shame since Spence truly believed that would be faster and easier.
He’d sent Travis out to doublecheck the permit requirements rather than risk fines and government red tape because Travis was the one with the builder experience, having worked for one before getting hired at the nursery. His carpentry skills rivaled most professionals and he built nicer furniture than what you could buy in any expensive store in D.C. His basic plumbing and electrical skills would also come in handy, which was why Spence named Travis the unofficial project manager.
Spence attached the papers to his clipboard and paged through them, mentally calculating the cost of reconstruction. He already paid for the labor through the workers’ usual nursery salaries, but that left the cost of materials, which wasn’t insignificant. He’d moved some money over from his savings account to the checking account he set up for the job. Looked like he’d need more. “Thanks for doing this.”
“It’s my job.”
“Not really.”
Not that Travis complained. Travis never complained, which was one of the many reasons Spence liked him and the business provided a small cabin at the back of the nursery property as part of his employee benefits. They were desperate to keep Travis happy and on staff.
“You think I’m going to leave her out here without help?” He glanced around, clearly searching for Lila this time.
Spence didn’t bother to help him out with locating her. “Not your style.”
They didn’t say anything as Spence flipped through the pages. Then Travis piped up. “You know I’m not making a move, right?”
“Excuse me?” Oh, Spence knew exactly what Travis was talking about but chose to keep his head down and off the subject.
“You can relax. She’s all yours.”
Spence’s hand stilled. This time he looked up, drilling Travis with a we’re-done-talking-about-this glare. “She’s not mine.”
Travis ignored the warning...as expected. “You sure?”
Spence blew out a long breath, even put a low growl behind it. “We had something quick and hot months ago.”
Travis tucked his hands in his back pockets and shifted his stance. “Uh-huh.”
“What?” Spence let the papers fall back down on the clipboard.
“Nothing.”
“Why hold back now? Say what you want to say.”
“Honestly? You do the quick and hot thing all the time. I’m surprised I’m not doing work for a whole list of your women.” Travis snapped his fingers a few times as if the answer just popped into his head. “Oh, that’s right. You’ve never stuck around long enough to introduce any of us to those women.”
“I can fire you, you know.” Spence wouldn’t but it was good every now and then to re-establish who was in charge, because even he wondered sometimes.
Travis just shook his head. “That’s not going to keep it away.”
“What are you talking about now?”
“Whatever you’re wanting to do with her.” Travis glanced behind Spence and smiled.
Spence knew without turning Lila was coming. Around them, all the men hesitated in their work to spare a smile. Something about having her on-site cleaned up their language and stopped the low level of understandable grumbling that often came with standing outside in the cold for extended periods of time.
Romancing the Holiday Page 6